ALGERIA - The Refineries - Hassi Messaoud I & II.

The first plant at this refinery was completed in 1960 but started up in 1962, the year Algeria gained independence from the French, with a capacity of 3,400 b/d. It was built by the French company SN Repal, in which Sonatrach was to hold a 49% share by late 1963 - with the French state firm Erap retaining a 51% majority. Sonatrach's share rose to 50% in 1965, to 75.5% on Dec. 15, 1971, and to 100% in 1972 when the government nationalised foreign oil assets. Plant II went on stream in 1979 and boosted Hassi Messaoud's refining capacity to 27,000 b/d. The two plants supply a large part of southern Algeria with gasoline, gasoil and kerosine.

Algiers refinery built by a JV with foreign firms - Societe de Raffinerie d'Alger (Spa) - in the capital's El Harach district. It came on stream in February 1964 with a capacity of 28,000 b/d to process Hassi Messaoud crude. This was gradually increased to about 58,000yb/d by 1973. Oil from Hassi Messaoud is piped to it along the Haoud El Hamra/Algiers pipeline. Sonatrach progressively took control of the plant, first by nationalising the shares of Esso (17.6%) and Mobil (6%), in August 1968. It purchased 12% of Total's share in November 1968, Shell's 24% in June 1970, and finally bought Total's remaining 20% in December 1971. The plant has the following: a 58,000 b/d crude distillation unit; a 15,000 b/d catalytic reformer; and a 15,000 b/d catalytic hydrotreater. Underground pipelines link the refinery to the various storage areas of Algiers for the supply of products to the country's central region. The system runs to the Algiers harbour and to the Houari Boumedienne International Airport. Most of the refinery's fuel oil naphtha output is exported.

Arzew refinery was built by a Japanese consortium made up of C. Itoh (now Itochu) and Japan Gasoline Co. It came on stream in December 1972. It has a capacity of 60,000 b/d and processes Saharan Blend crude, pumped through a 28-inch Haoud El Hamra/Arzew pipeline, as well as 6,000 b/d of imported sour crudes. Half of the refinery's output is consumed locally and the rest is exported to Europe and the US. The plant has the following: a 60,000 b/d crude unit; a 5,500 b/d vacuum unit; an 11,600 b/d catalytic reformer; an 11,000 b/d catalytic hydrotreater; a 145,000 t/y bitumen unit (on stream in 1984) producing asphalts; and two lubricants units producing 170,000 t/y of greases and paraffins (on stream in March 1984).

Skikda refinery, 323,000 b/d, went on stream in March 1980. Its first naphtha exports were shipped in April 1980 and full capacity was reached later in the year. The plant is designed to process 15m t/y of Saharan Blend crude, pumped through a 34-inch Haoud El Hamra/Skikda pipeline, and 300,000 t/y of sour crudes imported through the Skikda oil terminal which is linked to the plant by pipeline. The plant, often running at more than 350,000 b/d, was built by Snamprogetti and Saipem under a contract signed on April 30, 1974. Its naphtha output consists of naphthenic grades suitable for re-formulation into gasoline. A reforming unit and an additional storage tank were completed in 1993 - built by JGC/Itochu, under a $200m contract signed in April 1989, to turn naphtha into 1.6m t/y of gasoline. Gasoline imports were then stopped. Exports of naphtha from Skikda have had 75% paraffins, compared to about 70% before the reformer was built. The refinery has: two 7.5m t/y crude distillation units; a 9,000 b/d vacuum unit; a 30,000 b/d catalytic reformer; a 1,900 b/d isomerisation unit; a 380,000 t/y aromatics unit producing benzene, toluene and xylenes; and a 145,000 t/y bitumen unit producing road and oxidised asphalts. GRC wants a new hydrocracker built at Skikda.